Articles: Cooking with Scorpio

Vaguely Oriental Eggplant

1 large eggplant, sliced to grill
3 red peppers, sliced to grill
1 pkg bean sprouts
1 pkg tofu (firm, chinese spice), cubed
3-4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Sesame seeds, coriander seeds, ginger, coriander, crushed red pepper to taste
Will also need: balsamic vinegar, olive oil, sesame oil

1. Locate an electric grill. This is not at all essential, but does make life easier.
2. Rub eggplant and peppers with 3/4 of garlic, then soak in balsamic vinegar with a drop of olive oil.
3. Grill! (Or roast or fry or whatever one does with dripping slices of eggplant. This part is quite flexible.)
5. Heat wok or large pan. Add sesame oil. When oil is hot, add remaining garlic and coriander seeds.
6. After a few seconds, drop in bean sprouts and tofu. Sautee, adding spices to taste, until bean spouts go limp (giggle to yourself).
7. Drop eggplant and peppers in the pan to join the party, and turn off after a few minutes. This should be sufficient for the balsamic vinegar to infiltrate the other items in the pan, and works even better if the grilled eggplant has been sitting in your fridge for a few days. (Don't ask. I was abandoned for two weeks in my parents' house while they were away with nothing but an eggplant and three peppers to keep me company. Oh, and the fat cat.)

This is pretty good on its own, but I recommend making flat Thai rice noodles (the pad thai kind) to accompany this dish. When those are cooked, put a few drops of sesame oil on them to keep them separated--gives them a fabulous flavor kick, too.

Lazy Indian Saag

1 can of creamed saag (spinach) and mustard greens with spices (can be bought in an international food store or--duh--throw greens into a blender)
1/2 bag of frozen corn/onions/beans/carrots (it's a vaguely mexican mix that should be in the frozen food section of any supermarket)
1 can black beans
1/2 bag of frozen peas
Leftover chicken, tofu, whatever

This will be painfully obvious. Throw everything in a large sautee pan. Add spices if you really want to feel like you're cooking. I recommend ginger, coriander, a touch of crushed red pepper, and a bit of garam masala. (Mmmm... garam masala...)

Even Lazier Fresh Salsa

2 cans fresh chopped tomatoes with jalapenos
1 can corn kernels
1 can black beans
1/2 onion, finely chopped
As much cilantro as you can stomach, also finely chopped
Splash of lime, if desired--or just get lime-flavored corn chips. YUM.

This is also as obvious as it seems: drain all cans and mix ingredients together. Spend the rest of your afternoon practicing the sweeping-sweat-off-brow gesture you will need later, when trying to convince your already-impressed date to do dishes.

Fancy Spinach and Sundried Tomato Chicken Rollatini
(ok, this one actually requires effort...)

2 package chicken breasts, cleaned and trimmed
1 10oz pkg frozen spinach
Lemon juice

1/4 to 1/2 lb of dry sundried tomatoes (or equivalent in oil*)
*2 tbsp olive oil (not needed if using sundried tomatoes in oil)
1 handful of pine nuts (reserve some for topping)
3 handfuls of cracker crumbs or bread crumbs
3 cloves of garlic (2 whole, one finely chopped)
Spices to taste: coriander, basil, crushed red pepper, thyme, marjoram

1. Spinach stuffing: thaw the frozen spinach in a hot pan with a splash of water to prevent it from sticking. When able to mix the spinach, add the chopped garlic, a splash of lemon juice and some crushed red pepper. Cook only for a few minutes, just long enough for water to evaporate.
2. Sundried tomato stuffing: in a food processor, pulse together the sundried tomatoes, crumbs, remaining garlic, pine nuts and spices with just a touch of oil to keep the mixture slightly moist. This stuff tastes better slightly chunky, when the various textures and colors are still somewhat distinct in the mixture. Reserve a 1/4 of the mix to use as topping. Preheat oven to 350 when done with stuffing preparation.
3. Pound the crap out of those chicken breasts, one at a time. Rub each with a bit of salt and pepper, spread the chunky goo all over the breast (!) and roll up. For optimal color contrast, you can layer first the green, then the red.
4. Line up all the pretty phallic things in a foil or pyrex pan, ideally with their sides not touching (will cook faster). Spoon/rub the remaining tomato mixture on top and sprinkle with pine nuts.
5. Bake covered at 350 degrees, checking impatiently until they are done. 1/2 hour? hour? it seemed to take forever. If anyone comes up with a standardized time, let me know!

By the way, these things freeze wonderfully, to be pulled out at an appropriate emergency empty-fridge moment to impress a date. When freezing, make life easier on yourself by wrapping each roll sans topping individually in foil (they can then be baked that way) and separate the tomato topping into servings. It's much easier to thaw the servings individually than try to hack into a frozen ball of tomato goo.